Portland Timbers winger Steve Zakuani dribbled around barriers, sent crosses to his teammates and took shots at the Timbers' training Friday morning.

The forward is still recovering from sports hernia surgery and is not expected to be healthy enough to make an appearance in the Timbers season opener on March 8.

Still, Zakuani continues to improve each day and Timbers coach Caleb Porter said he is happy about the 26-year-old's progress.

"He gets better every day," Porter said. "He’s feeling no pain whatsoever. I’m 100 percent confident that he’s going to be back ready to go and playing minutes in the Timbers uniform."

The Timbers acquired the former Seattle Sounders forward during the MLS re-entry draft in December as a possible replacement for winger Rodney Wallace, who is expected to miss a significant portion of the season as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

"He’s not in full training yet," Porter said. "We want to still protect him in some of the activities where he’s around goal, but I’m confident that perhaps by the end of next week or the following week, he’ll be completely released to go through a full training session."

When Zakuani returns to full health, Porter will have some tough decisions to make. He could insert Zakuani into the lineup on the wing and move forward Gaston Fernandez to the number nine position over forward Max Urruti.

But if Urruti performs well to start the season, it will be difficult for Porter to find a spot for Zakuani in the starting 11. Still, Porter said he likes those tough decisions.

"I think he’s very close," Porter said. "Whether it’s a week or two weeks or a few days, I think depends on how he continues to progress."